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Originally Posted by DaveASA/FED
I think of Irish's sentence as runner sliding into 3rd fielder there with ball to make tag blocking bag, legal slide dislodges the ball and runner can't get to base, as fielder is reaching for ball. By rule once fielder loses ball you have OBS on them. Is it fair? Don't know, don't care its the rules!! Someone has to have the right of way for lack of a better term....defense has that to field a batted ball, or once they are in possession of the ball, other than that offense has the right of way. Seems like a sharing thing to me maybe not fairly but both have their times to have the right of way to make their plays.
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Not completely there. If the fielder has possession of the ball and then drops it in the execution of a play, there must still be some action on the runner's part for an OBS call, it is not automatic. Example would be a player losing possession of the ball when tagging a sliding runner. The fielder met the requirement of having possession of the ball while impeding the runner's progress. Now, the ball drops. If the runner makes no further effort to advance while the fielder retreives the ball and makes a tag, IMO, there is no OBS.
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That being said I agree with you in that the offense is just a liable to have INT called on them IF the conditions are correct cause they didn't go "poof"! Like the OP if they take off on the pitch and cause INT with the SS IMJ it doesnt matter if they meant to, if they are guilty of INT call it!!
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Did anyone ever say that wasn't INT? I don't think anyone challenged the call as we all know it is judgment based upon what the umpire saw. I just asked why as the description offered was somewhat vague.
As it comes to the "going poof" issue, you need to remember the runner is supposed to be in the base path, the fielder is not without the ball. As much as it is the runner's responsibility to not commit an act of INT, intentional or not, with a defender attempting to execute a play within the parameter of the rules, it is the defender's responsibility to avoid obstructing a runner when not fielding a batted ball or in possession of the ball. If either fail to abide by their respective responsibilities, their team suffers the consequences. To me, that's as fair as it gets.